Motorist sounds off on the latest traffic meltdown

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
Debra Waddleton has been driving a truck for nearly 30 years. She was also one of the many motorists stuck for hours on I-10 thanks to a wreck on the Basin Bridge that backed up traffic for miles.

For her and truckers like her, the holdup can be costly.

"When you drive a truck, time is money. If we're not rolling we're not making any money," said Waddleton.

Even without a direct view of the interstate, the cashiers at Cash's truck stop always know when it is backed up as suddenly business is booming. They say it happens pretty often, but that does not meant they like the traffic problems.

"When wrecks happen that bad it gets really bad. They should have better detours and better signs for them," said cashier Amanda Warner.

Waddleton agrees. She says that in her years of driving, she rarely hits traffic like she saw Wednesday and that the fix could be as simple as adding or expanding lanes.

“I figured through the years that I've been driving, I figure they would have expanded the freeways and the interstates,” said Waddleton. "Two lanes east and west, north and south is not going to work with the growth of the population."

According to DOTD, the bridge had to be inspected for damage after the wreck. While there is no structural damage, there is a broken guardrail. A temporary rail has been put in place.